Antiperspirants have as a principle function, a requirement to eliminate adverse effects of perspiration. Antiperspirant function has frequently been associated with undesirable side effects. One undesirable side effect has been stickiness. Dimethicone and other silicones have been added to reduce tack, hence stickiness, in antiperspirants, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,125 and U.S. Patent Appln. Publ. No. 20020048557. Solutions to stickiness have, however, produced problems of instability in the antiperspirant formulations.
Dibenzylidene sorbitol (DBS) has been used as a gellant for clear cosmetic products since the 1970's. This gellant has been used to create clear antiperspirant sticks. One problem with the clear antiperspirant sticks stems from aluminum active salt dissolved in propylene glycol, which is a feature of the clear antiperspirant sticks. This feature gives the antiperspirant sticks a very sticky feel. Furthermore, the DBS gelled antiperspirant products are inherently unstable because DBS is an acetal. Acetals are not stable in an acid medium. The instability is due to the acidity of the antiperspirant salt.